The Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy
Saturday 14th February 2015
Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy 1st Round
Easthall Star AFC v Oban Saints AFC
Stepford Football Centre
1514 Edinburgh Road
Glasgow
G33 4NU
Kick off 2pm
Referee Mr. Michael Auld
Saints stop/start season stalled again with the cancellation of last Saturday's scheduled Scottish Amateur Football League Premier Division home match against Alba Thistle from Paisley. The match was called off on Friday morning with Alba apparently unable to raise enough players to field a team. This latest disruption will have come as a bitter blow to Saints faithful home support whose wait for a home fixture now extends to twelve weeks and counting. The unfulfilled fixture will be referred to the League Committee however it's games the players want and even a "home win" committee decision will be scant reward for yet another Saturday spent kicking their heels.
It's the romance of the cup for Saints this Valentine's Day as they begin their defence of the Scottish Amateur Football League Jimmy Marshall Trophy with a tricky away trip to Stepford Football Centre to face Easthall Star. Star currently occupy 5th place in Premier Division Two with 19 points from 13 games. After picking up only one point from their opening four matches Star have lost just one game which was away from home at runaway league leaders Drumchapel Amateurs Colts. This run of good league form includes away victories at Dunoon Athletic and Lochgilphead Red Star, and highly creditable away draws at fellow promotion contenders Motherwell Thistle, Ferguslie Star and Drumchapel Amateurs Colts.
Formed in 1991 as a Sunday league team Easthall Star enjoyed a reasonable amount of success racking up ten trophies in a fourteen year period between 1993 and 2007. During this successful period they also made two semi-final appearances in the Sunday Scottish Amateur Cup. After a two season sabbatical Easthall Star reinvented themselves as a Saturday team joining the Scottish Amateur Football League for season 2012-13 where they won Division 1B at the first time of asking. With only 4 points separating the teams in second and sixth place in the this season's SAFL Premier Division 2 a second promotion in three seasons is still very much up for grabs for Star.
With their national cup ambitions ended for another season Saints can now focus on getting back into the league tittle race and defending the Jimmy Marshall Trophy which they won for the first time last season. Due to work and other commitments Saints have a number of players unavailable for selection on Saturday however Manager Iain Jackson can still name a strong squad for what will be a tough match on the notoriously difficult playing surface at Stepford. The match must be played to a finish on the day and will go straight to a penalty shoot-out if the teams are level after 90 minutes.
Stepford Football Centre
Easthall Star's League Fixtures So Far:-
16th August 2014 Easthall Star 2 - 5 South Camlachie YP
27th August 2014 Easthall Star 2 - 4 Motherwell Thistle
30th August 2014 Easthall Star 0 - 0 Lochgilphead Red Star
6th September 2014 Easthall Star 3 - 4 Ferguslie Star
13th September 2014 Paisley 3 - 6 Easthall Star
20th September 2014 Centre 1 - 2 Easthall Star
11th October 2014 Dunoon Athletic 1 - 3 Easthall Star
8th November 2014 Drumchapel Amateurs Colts 2 - 1 Easthall Star
29th November 2014 Easthall Star 4 - 0 Clydebank
6th December 2014 Lochgilphead Red Star 0 - 1 Easthall Star
10th January 2015 Motherwell Thistle 5 - 5 Easthall Star
24th January 2015 Easthall Star 4 - 4 Drumchapel Amateurs Colts
7th February 2015 Ferguslie Star 3 - 3 Easthall Star
Easthall Star's record in the Scottish Amateur Football League:-
2013/14
Premier Division Two 5th
2012/13
Division 1B Champions (Promoted)
Easthall Star's most recent trophy success
Easthall Star pictured after winning their first ever trophy in season 1994
For those of you slightly upset by the choice of team colours in the previous picture this also happened in 1994
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